Director

Karla Scott  has an earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Pedagogy (the science of vocal training) from East

Carolina University in Greenville, NC and a Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland at College

Park where she received a Full Fellowship Award for Graduate Study.  She is first-prize winner of the National Association of

Teachers of Singing and American Women in Radio and Television Competitions.  Her operatic debut was as Pamina in Mozart’s

The Magic Flute in Rome, Italy. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, in recital for Opera Ebony Concert Guild, and with the

Greensboro Symphony;  Evening at the Pops, Christmas Concerts, and a concert version of Porgy and Bess.  Ms. Scott has

performed the Mahler 4th with the NOI Symphony and appeared in a documentary film about the life of Jester Hairston.

She served as Instructor of Music at Bennett College for Women where she directed the touring choir.  Under her leadership, the

choir performed for President Clinton at the 50^th Anniversary of UNCF.  The choir also performed at the opening ceremonies of

Africa University in Zimbabwe, Africa at the invitation of President Mugabe.  Based on student nominations from Bennett College,

Ms. Scott was listed in the national volume, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers for two consecutive years. By vote of the

college faculty and staff, she received the Faculty Service Award from Bennett College. Ms. Scott has begun Doctoral training in

Music at the University of Maryland, College Park. As part of her research, she traveled to Beijing, China to train and study

conservatory singers.  Ms. Scott was invited to sing for former South African President Nelson Mandela at the Anwar Sadat

Lecture for Peace.  In 2001, she released her debut recording entitled JOYRIVER. Most recently in November of 2005, she was a

guest soloist at the funeral services of Mrs. Rosa Parks at Metropolitan AME in Washington, DC. She is honored to serve the body

of Christ as teacher and psalmist and has shared ministry settings with Israel Houghton and New Breed, Twinkie Clark of the

Clark Sisters, Richard Smallwood, Ron Kenoly, Smokey Norful, Alvin Slaughter, Maurette Brown-Clark, Keith Childress,

Jonathan Butler, Dr. Myles Monroe, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and many others.

Joyce Garrett, a native of Kinston, North Carolina has consistently produced outstanding choral ensembles for over thirty-five years. A consummate musician and exemplary music educator, Garrett most recently served as Founder/Artistic Director of the Excellence Without Excuses program, a youth intervention, values-training and scholarship program she created for the award-winning Eastern High School Choir of Washington, DC during her 27-year teaching career there. Her Eastern Choirs traveled to Germany, Austria, France, and the Netherlands singing at many prestigious music festivals including the International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna, Austria in 1988 (winning the silver medal trophy), and the Allied Musical Salute to the Liberation of France, in Paris and Normandy, celebrating the 50^th anniversary of D- Day in 1994. Numerous national television appearances with some of the world’s top performers followed including the annual special, Christmas in Washington with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, William Clinton, and George W. Bush. Her choirs have performed with many of the world’s greatest artists including Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Gloria Estefan, James Taylor, Yolanda Adams, Josh Groban and many others. The Eastern Choir recorded four compact discs. Her work with the Eastern Choir resulted in her being awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her Alma Mater, Bennett College.

Garrett received the Bachelor of Arts Degree from Bennett College, Greensboro, NC and the Master of Music Degree from The Catholic University in Washington, DC. During her exemplary teaching career, she received numerous honors and awards including the President’s Medal of The George Washington University, 1998; The Catholic University Alumni Achievement Award in Music, 1993; the Reader’s Digest American Heroes in Education Award, 1991; the Washingtonian Magazine’s Washingtonian of the Year Award, 1991; the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award (District of Columbia Public Schools), 1989; and the Capitol Hill Community Achievement Award, 1989.

Selected to assemble and direct massed choirs for two Millennium events held at the Lincoln Memorial, Garrett continues to produce choirs for annual, nationally televised performances at the Kennedy Center Honors and Christmas in Washington, holiday events attended by The President and his family. In 2004, the National Symphony “Pops” Orchestra Holiday Concerts at the Kennedy Center conducted by Marvin Hamlisch featured “Unified Voices,” a newly formed group of singers directed by Garrett and noted musician, Patrick Lundy.

Garrett has directed the United States Naval Academy Gospel Choir, Annapolis, Maryland since 1990, performing throughout the United States from California to New York, showcasing the Gospel Choir’s talents, and serving as a catalyst for Academy student recruitment. Currently, she is also the Music Ministry Director of the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. She is married to James Garrett and is the mother of two adult children, Rodney and Melanie.